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News Article

Military Strengths of NATO Invitees

WASHINGTON, July 10, 1997  Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic will bring significant military forces to the NATO alliance if they are accepted into full membership in 1999.

All figures come from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies publication "The Military Balance." They cover 1996-1997.

Poland spends $3.1 billion per year on its military. Hungary spends $520 million, and the Czech Republic spends $1.3 billion.

The Czech military has around 70,000 active duty and reserve service members. The active duty army has 28,000 members, of which 15,400 are conscripts. The Czech air force has 16,000 members. The Czech army and air force are equipped mostly with Soviet-style equipment, with much built in the republic. The land-locked nation has no navy. A Czech mechanized infantry battalion serves with NATO forces in Bosnia.

The Hungarian armed forces have 64,300 in the active component and 173,000 in the reserves. A total of 48,000 serve in the land forces -- 30,000 conscripts. The air force has 16,300 members including 11,200 conscripts. Hungary also uses Soviet-based weapon systems and maintains a small riverine force. Hungary provided NATO with bases to support operations in Bosnia and has an engineer battalion supporting NATO in Bosnia.

Poland has an active duty force of 248,500 including 147,100 conscripts. There are 466,000 reservists: 382,000 army, 18,000 navy and 66,000 air force. The Polish army has 178,700 members; the navy, 17,800; and the air force, 52,000. The services uses Polish-built Soviet-style equipment. Poland deployed an airborne infantry battalion to help NATO in Bosnia.